Brit Actor Ben Whishaw Comes Out As Gay, Confirms Marriage To Partner

British actor Ben Whishaw best known for his roles in Skyfall, Brideshead Revisited, and Cloud Atlas has confirmed he’s gay via a statement from a publicist and confirms that he married his partner, Australian composer Mark Bradshaw, nearly a year ago.

Speculation was sparked by an interview he gave to the gay magazine Out in March 2011 while playing a homosexual character in an off-Broadway play, The Pride.

When the interviewer asked whether it was important for young gay people to have positive role models, Whishaw replied: ‘I feel in my heart that it’s important, but I don’t quite know yet the way to go about that. Maybe that’s the transitional thing I feel I’m in the middle of at the moment.’

Last night Whishaw’s spokesman confirmed the civil partnership, saying: ‘Ben has never hidden his sexuality, but like many actors he prefers not to discuss his family or life outside of his work.

‘Due to speculation, I can confirm that Ben and Mark entered into a civil partnership in August 2012. They were proud to do so and are very happy.’

Welcome to the freedom to be who you are Ben and a belated congratulations to the happy couple.

Will Kohler is a noted LGBT historian, writer, blogger and owner of Back2Stonewall.com. A longtime gay activist, Will fought on the front lines of the AIDS epidemic with ACT-UP and continues fighting today for LGBT acceptance and full equality. Will’s work has been referenced in notable media venues as MSNBC and BBC News, The Washington Post, The Advocate, The Daily Beast, Hollywood Reporter, Raw Story, and The Huffington Post